Fireplace smoke chamber repair by local pros in Tangelo Park

Eight inches of masonry around the chamber

Chamber walls have a minimum thickness in the code. Section R1001.8 sets the front, back and side walls of a smoke chamber at 8 inches of solid masonry in total. Where a lining of firebrick at least 2 inches thick, or vitrified clay at least 5/8 inch thick, is provided, the minimum drops to 6 inches of solid masonry including the lining.

Wall thickness is hard to confirm from inside. We measure what the access allows and say clearly when the true thickness can only be known by opening the masonry. A chamber that turns out thin is a rebuild question, and we explain it that way.

What open joints do to the chamber wall

Mortar joints inside a chamber are exposed to heat, moisture and acidic deposits every time the fireplace is used. Over the years, some of that mortar can erode and leave open channels between bricks.

An open joint is a short path for heat and gases into the wall. It also gives deposits a place to lodge where a brush cannot reach. We rake out loose material, fill the joints with refractory mortar and then parge, so the wall is sealed and smooth from the throat to the flue.

• Heat reaches deeper into the wall
• Deposits lodge out of brush reach
• Loose mortar falls onto the damper

Working through the damper opening

The simplest route into a smoke chamber is up through the damper opening from inside the firebox. Our crew works overhead in a tight space, reaching past the damper frame with the tools and material the job needs.

The damper size and position decide how much of the chamber can be reached this way. We check the opening during the free inspection and tell you whether the whole chamber can be done from below or whether part of it needs access from above.

Written findings after the inspection

After the inspection, you receive written findings that describe the chamber in plain words, covering its shape, the condition of the joints and any earlier coat, the deposits, the smoke shelf and the damper area.

The findings also say what could not be seen, such as wall thickness behind the surface. Keep them with your home records. They make the next yearly inspection faster and give anyone who works on the fireplace later a clear starting point.

Scheduling chamber work around cure time

A chamber job has two parts on the calendar, the working time and the curing time before normal fires. Planning both together avoids a finished chamber that sits unused on the evening you wanted a fire.

We book the work so the cure ends before the date you have in mind and write the first-fire date on your invoice. If the fireplace is your main heat source on cool evenings, tell us, and we plan around it.